Like Water and Fire
by KeeperOfShadow1
Summary: A one-shot, which started because I wanted to take a shot at a (short) combat scene. I would like to thank SunnySmile1324 for Beta-ing this story. If you would please give me feedback on this story, it will be appreciated greatly. Enjoy! c:


The faint light of the setting sun reflected from the tiny teardrops that had formed in the corner of Katara's eyes as she took in the scene of destruction. Where once had been a small, lively town, was nothing more than the burning remnants of ruined buildings and streets covered in the blood of the dead and dying. The Fire Nation had attacked without warning. Not even the characteristic rain of soot that usually preceded such attacks had been present. They had come from the sky, and had only left death and destruction in their wake. That, and one more thing…

Katara's eyes narrowed and her facial features shifted to a grim determination as her gaze locked onto the one person standing among the devastation. One firebender remained, a diabolical laughter ringing from her throat as she continued to set fire to what little remained of the town and its inhabitants. "Azula!" Katara shouted, as she readied herself to fight the invader. "You'll pay for this." Without waiting for the other female to respond, Katara opened her waterskin and, in one swift motion, drew out a large ball of water. Azula seemed to either not have heard her, or was ignoring her altogether, but the waterbender did not wait. In rapid succession, she shot hundreds of small slivers of water, which turned to ice almost immediately, at the firebender.

At the last moment, Azula turned to face Katara and jumped back to dodge her attack. A wide smirk was on the lips of the fire princess, and her madness was clearly visible in her eyes. "You thought you could surprise me?" The firebender chuckled, before jabbing her fingers towards Katara. Blue lightning shot from Azula's fingertips at the waterbender. Katara's eyes briefly went wide in fear, before, in a last-minute reflex, she threw her arms up, pulling up a shield of water in front of her to block the attack. Both the thin sheet of water and the lightning dissipated immediately on impact, but, as Katara's eyes scanned the area to see where her opponent had gone, she could not find Azula anywhere.

The slightest sound of a maniacal giggle betrayed Azula's position moments later, and, before Katara could react, another flash of blue lightning crackled through the air, this time striking Katara straight into the chest. Katara gasped, and, before she could even realize it, she was down on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe and trying to fight off the attack, without success. Sound started to blur, and her vision narrowed and troubled, as the electricity continued to run through her. The realization slowly set in, this might…

Suddenly, the attack stopped, but Katara's condition did not improve that quickly. Everything hurt, breathing was difficult, and the young waterbender was tempted to give in to the urge to just drop down onto the ground and fall asleep. Just as her eyes shut, Katara felt someone place a hand around her waist, hauling her back onto her feet. The person spoke, but only a blurred echo of what remained of the spoken words reached her brain. Had this person been an enemy, Katara would not even have been able to resist, as she felt she was guided down the streets, back into the direction she had come from, not even half an hour earlier. "You okay?" She finally managed to make sense of the words spoken to her. Slowly, she blinked away her troubled vision, and looked at the person carrying her away, to recognize the face of her brother.

The faintest smile came to Katara's lips as she nodded slightly. "Thank you, Sokka," she whispered, after which she was no longer able to fight trying to stay awake. Even before her chin touched her chest, Katara was sound asleep.

Sokka carried her only a little further to their campsite, making sure his sister was comfortable and safe, before he sat down near the fire, and held the one item he had carried in his other had the whole trip back from the ruined town up in front of his face. "Thank you, boomerang."


End file.
